Helena weekly herald. [volume] (Helena, Mont.) 1867-1900, 1887-04-28

Cuba is shaped like a crescent, with its
horns turned toward South America and with
the highest point of its back toward Florida.
This crescent is more than 700 miles long
longer than the distance from New York to
Cleveland, and it is little over 100 miles wide
in its broadest part. Taking the figures
furnished by Librarian Spoiford, it is larger
than New York, Massachusetts, and Mary
land combined. This crescent has line of
mountains running through its center from
one end to the other, and the land slopes from
these to the sea in undulating plains. The
mountains are covered with forests of fine
finishing woods, mahogany and ebony being
chief OF the 10000, 900 acres of wild land i'll
Cuba more than half is made up of virgin
forest, and there are vast extents of territory
here, which good government and enterprise
might make very profitable.
The island has more fine harbors than any
other country of its size and it is no wonder
that the buccaneers of the Spanish main Sc
lected it as the center of their piratical enter
prises 1t has 260 rivers and plenty of fresh
water springs IL has climate which is one
perpetual summer 1t never SHOWS in Cuba,
though the ice sometimes forms upon the
mountains The babies can go naked here
the year around, and as for the stocking trade
of Havana its customers are confined to the
higher classes Neither stockings nor suspen-
ders are used by the laborers and doubt
whether there are 1000 pairs of suspenders
worn by the 1,500,0 900 people who make up
this islands population.
Speaking of suspenders, the Cuban fastcns
his unmentionables with belt strap and the
majority of the working men of the island
confine their apparel to undershirt and panta-
looms. In the case of the coiored laborer, the
undershirt is dispensed with, and, all told,
suppose there are less clothes worn IN Cuba to
the population than in any other country IN
Christendom. The chief aim OF the people Is
to keep cool, and the better class of men dress
in white duck, with Panama hats There are
no carpets on the floors nor plaster on the
ceilings The lower class women wear few
underclothes and calico wrapper and palr
of heelless slippers are wardrobe. Iron bars
take the place of glass windows, and there is
not a chimney nor cooking stove in Havana.
There are no barns, and the horses are washed
in the harbors instead of being currled. There
are no bricks used in the sidewalks, and the
average sidewalk is three feet wide and OF
stone The building stone used Is porous
one. and this is covered with stucco. Havana
has parks, but there is no grass in them, and as
for shade, for it you must 80 to the mountains
The policemen here carry swords and guns, and
the offices of all kinds are filled by the Span
iards There are no mattresses on the Cuban
beds, and as for feather pillows, there are not
feathers enough used here to make wad for
the earache. There are few china pitchers
used in Havana, and the drinking mug is OF
porous clay, with hole at the top, out OF
which the water is poured into the mouth IN
a trickling stream. Red brick tiles take the
place of shingles and the tops OF the houses
are used in the evenings for sitting rooms.
The gardens of Havana are inside the houses
instead of behind them
The milkman drives his COW from door to
door and milks directly into the vessel OF his
customer The calf generally tags along be-
hind. and the COW now and then refuses to
= III. until the calf has had